The Tube
by stella-pegasi
Summary: Rodney finds a new toy and Sheppard pays for it.


**Title: ****The Tube**

**Author: **stella_pegasi

**Rating: **K+

**Genre(s): **Gen

**Warnings: **Language

**Spoilers: **Story set post-Season Five

**Characters: **John Sheppard, Rodney McKay

**Word Count: **4, 329

**Summary: **Rodney finds a new toy and Sheppard pays for it.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own them; I would have treated them better.

**Notes: **Written for LiveJournal Community **SGA_Saturday**'s Week Three Prompt: Conduit

Many thanks to one of **SGA_Saturday's **moderators, "**esteefee**," who during a fun little email exchange gave me the idea for this story. A good muse…indeed. Thank you!

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><p><strong>The Tube<strong>

_by stella_pegasi_

"Five minutes, Sheppard, it will only take five minutes."

"I told you, I am not just going to stick my head into a large tube, and let you push buttons while I stand there. I'd like to keep my head." Sheppard was striding down the corridor leading from Rodney's lab, while the anxious scientist rushed to keep up.

"That isn't going to happen," Rodney paused, "Maybe the worst that could happen is your hair gets fixed." Rodney's poor attempt at humor did not go over very well.

Sheppard whirled, "Stop, right there, you don't know enough about this lab or the console you found to decide if it's safe. And there is nothing wrong with my hair." He started to turn away, but Rodney grabbed his arm. Calmly, Sheppard said, "McKay, most people who grab me, end up unconscious, or worse, you should consider yourself lucky that you are still standing."

"Why the hell are you being so testy with me, Sheppard? I've explained we don't know what this thing is, but no one can get it to initialize, so you need to do it."

The colonel's glare was intense and Rodney stepped back a bit, "Look, we know this lab is important; the data Zelenka discovered was encrypted, and it took a long time to for Dr. Qui to break the cipher. There had to be a reason for the Ancients to hide this lab."

"Rodney, the Ancients don't have a great track record; they've hidden lots stuff for a reason. They haven't always been forthcoming with their activities; remember the Replicators?"

Rodney sputtered, "Yeah, I know but Sheppard…."

"Find out more about that device and we'll talk." Sheppard spun around and walked away, leaving Rodney standing in the middle of the corridor.

* * *

><p>Two days later, Sheppard entered the conference room for the morning senior staff meeting, to find McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka huddled over a laptop, muttering excitedly. He had no doubt, as to what they were going on about, he heard from Woolsey that the two scientists believed they knew what the mysterious device was, possibly. The 'possibly' concerned him. Rodney had called him testy, and Sheppard admitted to himself that he was being testy. He'd learned from Elizabeth Weir that sometimes Rodney needed protection from himself. By resisting Rodney's request to test the device, he hoped to give the scientist time to understand the lab's function.<p>

Sheppard quietly poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Ronon, waiting for Rodney to notice he was present. It wasn't until Teyla and Keller, followed by Woolsey entered the room that Rodney looked up, spotting him.

"You are going to love this." Rodney flashed an impish grin, but turned back to his laptop before Sheppard could answer. Sheppard slouched deeper into his chair, wishing Rodney wasn't so enthusiastic. He had learned that Rodney's enthusiasm was reciprocal to the amount of problems he had to deal with.

Woolsey grabbed coffee and sat down, "Okay everyone; Dr. McKay, I understand that you and Dr. Zelenka have some new information."

"Yes, yes…we do." He sprang from his seat, as Zelenka hit a key on his computer and the view screen activated. The image showed the lab housing the mysterious device console and the crystal cylinder that extended from floor to ceiling standing on a platform next to it. The console was very similar to the others on Atlantis; however, it had a multilevel crystal board. The board was glowing slightly.

Rodney pointed to the screen, "Qui translated more of the data, and we believe that this lab is used to measure the code structure of the ancient gene."

Woolsey looked puzzled, "Dr. McKay, with all the advancements of the Ancients and the medical equipment we have found why would they need a separate lab?"

Zelenka pushed his glasses higher on his nose, "I…we…think that they used this lab to examine exactly what each individual was capable of doing, their abilities."

Teyla spoke up, "Athosian lore speaks of many Ancestors who were healers, of others who could read minds, many abilities as you call them."

Rodney started to speak but Radek interrupted, "We think that the gene is stronger in some than others, as we have seen with Colonel Sheppard, compared to other gene carriers. The colonel's gene is the strongest we have measured by our methods, and he is many generations removed from the Altarens who returned to Earth. From his time on the time-dilation planet, we know that the Ancients as they evolved developed unique skills, but not all the same skills. We think that…"

Looking annoyed, Rodney interrupted Zelenka, "We need for Sheppard to activate the console, and we need for him to enter the tube, so that we can calibrate the device."

"To what end, doctor," Woolsey asked.

"That's certainly my question, Rodney," Sheppard added.

"If we can determine the strength of the gene in base personnel, we would be able properly assign staff to positions. Look, let's say a Marine has the gene and he can fly a jumper, but not very well. If we knew his gene wasn't strong enough to control a jumper, he could be assigned to something else."

Woolsey looked at Sheppard, "Colonel, your feelings about this; I will not order you to play guinea pig here."

Sheppard turned to McKay, "You sure about this Rodney?" McKay nodded and for a few seconds the colonel stared at him, then sighing said, "Okay, I'll do it."

Rodney grabbed his laptop and hurried toward the door, Zelenka quickly following. As McKay vanished though the doors, he yelled back, "Be in the lab in thirty minutes, Sheppard."

* * *

><p>Zelenka was attaching an additional laptop to the console as Sheppard, followed by Teyla and Ronon, walked into the lab, located two stories above Atlantis' lower hull. He had only taken two steps into the room when the console erupted in bright light. The crystal cylinder, which appeared much bigger than it had on the view screen, was now bathed in glowed in soft blue light.<p>

Rodney jumped as the console powered up, then saw Sheppard, "Announcing your arrival, Sheppard?"

"What do I need to do?" Sheppard tone of voice betrayed the fact he was not looking forward to this.

"Well, you done half of it already, the console appears to be fully functional. Next thing is once Radek stops messing around and actually gets the last monitoring computer hooked up, you can go stand in that tube over there, and we will take a base line reading of the equipment."

After a few minutes, Rodney absently motioned for Sheppard to step toward the tube. The seam of a curved door was visible but there was no sign of a handle. "Rodney, how does this thing open?"

"Give us a minute, we're trying to figure it out."

While Rodney and Zelenka were bickering over what to do, Sheppard extended his hand, touching the nearly invisible seam along the crystal tube. Silently the door opened and a soft amber glow replaced the pale blue.

Rodney spun around, "What the fuck did you do?"

"Nothing, I just touched it."

"Touching it is not _nothing_, honestly." Exasperated, Rodney turned back to Zelenka. "Are you ready yet?" Zelenka muttered lowly in Czech, which Rodney took to mean yes.

"Okay, Sheppard, get in the tube."

Teyla asked nervously, "Are you certain that it is safe for John to do this?"

'Sure, sure, it's safe, just leave the door open…let's go, flyboy, and measure how strong that gene really is."

With a glance at Ronon and Teyla, Sheppard stepped onto the shallow platform and slipped into the tube. Before he could turn around to face his friends, the door shut and the seam vanished. The soft amber light turned into a blinding red glow and with a swoosh, a portal opened in the ceiling. As his friends watched in horror, the tube began to emit a low hum and, without warming, shot through the ceiling and vanished.

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><p>Sheppard couldn't move. He felt crushing pressure against his body, and assumed the pressure was keeping him from becoming a puddle of goo on the floor of the pod. It was pitch dark and he was completely disoriented. The pod lifted straight up as it disappeared into the darkness, then tilted on its side and veered to the right. As the pressure increased, his chest was beginning to cramp and he was having difficulty breathing. The pod's speed had increased greatly as it changed direction at least twice more before he felt the pod begin to decelerate. As abruptly as the pod had left the lab, it came to a halt and slammed into something immovable. The impact was enormous, causing the crystal pod to shatter, and throwing Sheppard several feet. He was unconscious before he slid to a halt.<p>

* * *

><p>Stunned silence fell over the lab as the occupants of the room watched the crystal cylinder disappear into the ceiling. Before they could catch their breath, a portal opened in the floor and an identical tube to the one Sheppard had stepped into sat in its place. The tube's interior was bathed in the same soft blue light as before.<p>

Ronon walked over to the tube and touched it, but the door didn't open. All of them realized that without the gene to activate it, the tube would not open. The Satedan took a step toward Rodney.

"Little man, where did Sheppard go?"

"I…I…don't know; give me a second." Rodney's eyes were darting from the empty tube to Ronon; the anguish he was feeling, evident on his face. He turned to Radek, who appeared shell-shocked.

Ronon remained where he was standing, not moving; Teyla joined him as she tapped her COM. "Mr. Woolsey, we have a problem; could you and Major Lorne please come to the lab immediately. Colonel Sheppard has vanished."

Less than five minutes passed before Major Lorne, then Woolsey arrived. Teyla informed them of the situation.

Lorne put Atlantis' military on alert, then asked McKay, "Doc, do you have any idea where this tube thing went? I need to give the search teams some idea of where to concentrate." Lorne waited for an answer but Rodney only stared blankly at him.

Woolsey spoke quietly, "Dr. McKay, I assume that this device is not a code evaluator but something vastly different. Now, you need to concentrate on learning where this device has taken the colonel, so that we can get assistance to him."

Lorne added, "Doc, if he could, Colonel Sheppard would have radioed us by now. Either he's lost his COM, he's in an area where the radio doesn't work, or he's incapacitated. We need a place to start."

Rodney visibly composed himself, "I don't know where he is, we're trying to decipher the controls on the device. I can't pinpoint any specific area he could be in; for right now, you need to look everywhere."

Lorne's jaw clenched, then he issued orders, " Teldy, Waters; start search teams radiating from the central tower. All off-duty personnel are recalled, and ask the science department for volunteers to help search. Have the teams report every ten minutes, then give me an update. Tell them to move quickly, we have no idea where the colonel is or if he is injured."

The major took a breath and then contacted Chuck, "I want constant sweeps of all areas of Atlantis, and extend the search out into the ocean. You are looking for Colonel Sheppard or for a cylinder about…' he turned to Radek, who gave him the dimensions, "about seven and a half feet tall and three feet in diameter; Lorne out." With a nod to Woolsey, Lorne left the lab, Ronon and Teyla on his heels.

* * *

><p>He regained consciousness slowly, first realizing that he was lying on his back on a cold solid surface. Blinding light burned into his eyes, causing his head to pound, and Sheppard shut his eyes as tightly as possible to block out the intense glare. After a moment, he realized the blinding light was originating from the excruciating pain in his head, not the other way around. He tried to take a deep breath, but severe pain shot through his chest; he decided not to attempt that again.<p>

Sheppard lay still as he took stock of his body to determine how badly he was injured. He struggled to move his legs, bent beneath him in an awkward position, but only managed a stifled moan. His legs were pinned underneath a heavy object, which he was too weak to attempt to move. Help, he needed to call for help, and he tried to raise his left arm to access his COM, but his arm was also trapped. Reaching across his chest with his right arm, he discovered that his COM had fallen off.

As his fingers brushed against his brow, which was wet and sticky, Sheppard realized he was covered in blood. He was bleeding with no conception of how badly. Gasping as he touched what could only be a cut across his forehead, he told himself not to worry; they would find him. With that thought, a tiny whimper escaped his lips as he drifted into unconsciousness once more.

* * *

><p>Richard Woolsey was pacing across the lab from where McKay, Zelenka, Dr. Qui, and Dr. Miko Kusinagi were huddled over the console. Lorne had just reported for the third time, but there was still no sign of Sheppard, visually or on sensors. Nearly forty-five minutes had passed, and they were no closer to discovering any new information about what had happened.<p>

His patience wearing thin, Woolsey decided it was time to figure this out, enough with all the scientific bickering. He crossed the room to speak to McKay.

"Dr. McKay, we need answers; have you made any significant progress?"

McKay swiveled the lab stool around to face the director. The frantic look on McKay's face told Woolsey what he needed to know, but the scientist answered anyway, "I…I don't know what happened, we are trying to get through as much of the database as we can as quickly as we can."

"Can you speculate about what happened here, doctor? This city is nearly the size of Manhattan, to search without some idea of the colonel's location will take more time than he may have."

McKay blew out a big breath, "I don't know, maybe it's a transporter of some kind, or maybe it's how the Ancient's bury their dead." McKay's voice had risen in pitch as he spoke but when he realized the words he had uttered, his face drained of all color. "Oh no, I've sent Sheppard to a crematorium."

Radek scoffed, "Rodney, nebuď blázen. You did not send the colonel to crematorium. The tube was upright; the Ancients were idiots sometimes, but not foolish enough to stand up their dead. You need to focus; myslím, že, think Rodney. What is logical for this place to be? It is like some big pneumatic tube sending someone to another location quickly."

Dr. Miko Kusinagi added, "Doctor McKay, if this is a form of transportation, then why was the location and the data about the lab encrypted?"

Rodney was silent, staring off into space, no one spoke, as they waited to see what he was thinking. Abruptly he spun around and began pounding the keys on his laptop, "Where is it, where is it?" Page after page of data flew across the screen until he stopped striking the page down button, "There...look, there is another encryption, but look at the words before the encryption code."

The other scientists and Woolsey all moved in closer, to read the words written in Ancient. Gasps from Zelenka, Kusinagi, and Qui told Woolsey they realized what Rodney was referring to, but he didn't understand the Ancient language. "What, Dr. McKay, what have you found?"

McKay's fingers were already flying over the keyboard, and he ignored Woolsey's question. Zelenka answered for him, "The phrase says, "escape pods stations schematics."

"Escape pods," Woolsey gestured toward the tube, "these are escape pods?"

McKay replied impatiently, "No; these tubes are part of the transport system to the escape pods. There must be a conduits that the pods travel through, taking personnel to escape pods. I just need to find where the escape pods are hidden. Now be quiet and let me work."

His companions did as they were told, and after a few minutes of nervous waiting, McKay uttered a gleeful yelp, "There." On the large view screen above the console was a map of Atlantis, with eight chambers highlighted.

McKay turned to Woolsey, "Eight hidden escape pod bays; the Ancients had a way off Atlantis in emergencies."

Woolsey ordered, "Send that map to the search teams, McKay." Tapping his COM, he called Lorne, "Major, we have found possible locations where Colonel Sheppard might be, a map is being downloaded to your pads now."

McKay joined in, speaking rapidly, "Major, the schematic shows what we think are escape pod bays. They are hidden, so be sure that someone with the gene checks each area; the entrances may only be accessible to gene carriers."

Nervous minutes passed, twenty-seven to be exact, when Lorne finally reported Major Waters had been the first to access one of the pod bays, only to find it empty. Another twenty minutes ticked away before they heard the words, "We've found the colonel," flowed from their COMs. With that announcement, McKay jumped up and ran out the door, Woolsey and the others right behind. They were on their way to the infirmary.

* * *

><p>Ronon was sitting in a chair on one side of Sheppard's bed, while McKay paced anxiously on the other side. He was getting on Ronon's nerves. "McKay, sit down or I swear I will make you."<p>

Teyla, roused from a nap at Ronon's biting tone, mumbled, "Ronon; he is worried, be kind." She peeked at her son, sleeping in a small portable crib next to her, before she rose and took McKay's arm. "Rodney, please come sit down; I'll get you a cup of coffee." She led McKay to a chair, "Sit, I'll be right back."

As she turned to leave, Kanaan stood up, "I will go get coffee and tea for all; you stay here with your team." She smiled and nodded as he departed, returning to sit next to McKay.

He was distraught, "It's all my fault; when the hell am I going to learn? He's dying and it's my fault."

Teyla sighed, "Rodney; we have been through this already, John is not dying but he is badly injured. Carson and Jennifer both said he was out of immediate danger, but we don't know how long before he will regain consciousness. He lost a lot of blood; his injuries will take time to heal."

"Let's see, Teyla, copious blood loss, severe concussion, numerous cuts...some quite deep, a metal beam falls on him, causing crushing tissue injures, horrendous bruising and hematomas. Not to mention the severely sprained left knee and ankle, which were bent beneath his body...do you want me to go on? He may not be dying, but he's damn sure hurt badly. And it's my fault."

"McKay," Ronon's gruff voice penetrated the dim light of the infirmary, "it's your fault, now go on."

Teyla replied sharply, "Both of you, be quiet; this bickering will not help the colonel. Only time is going to heal, John; we must all be patient."

Kanaan soon returned with their drinks, and silence fell over the trio as they waited, watching over their commander and their friend.

* * *

><p>Thirty-six hours passed before Colonel Sheppard fully awoke. He had drifted in and out of consciousness until he was finally strong enough to stay awake more than a couple of minutes at a time. McKay was on a forced respite from the infirmary, but rushed back as soon as he was notified that Sheppard was awake.<p>

Beckett was talking to Sheppard as McKay rushed in, "Carson, is he okay?"

A weak, raspy voice answered, "W-why... don't you ask me."

"Sheppard, you're awake?"

Sheppard chuckled softly, "Took a PhD to f-figure that out?

McKay sighed, "Sheppard...John...I'm sorry, this is all my fault."

Beckett frowned, nodding as if he agreed with McKay, but didn't say anything,

"Yeah...Mc..Kay...it is." Sheppard murmured, then fell asleep again.

Beckett looked at the scientist, "Rodney, John doesn't have nine-lives. He's mortal, although we all sometimes want to believe he isn't. You need to be more careful before you send him into situations like this." Not giving McKay time to answer, Beckett left, leaving the scientist standing by Sheppard's bed, his head down.

Several hours of intermittent consciousness passed before Sheppard finally was able to remain awake longer than a couple of minutes. A few hours more, and he could sit up to have a meal. Rodney had gone to check on the progress that Zelenka's team was making as they investigated the escape pod bays. When he returned, he found Teyla feeding Sheppard soup and jello, green jello, which was Sheppard's favorite. Sheppard's left arm was immobilized because of a shoulder sprain and his right arm covered in bandages from cuts, and he had an IV in his right hand. Feeding himself was a bit difficult, so Teyla intervened after he tried. Ronon was sitting on a chair across the bed from Teyla.

With Sheppard so wide-awake, Rodney was visibly nervous as he walked up to the bed, "Hey, you look like you're feeling better."

Sheppard swallowed a spoonful of jello, "Yeah, much."

Rodney's head bobbed up and down, and he grinned, nervously, "Good."

"What happened, Rodney? Teyla and Lorne filled me in a bit but tell me, what happened."

Rodney rubbed his chin, "We were wrong; the reason the gene code info was there was that it apparently recorded the DNA of the people who entered the escape pod systems. We've always wondered why there weren't escape pods on Atlantis. We concluded the Ancients thought either they could escape on a large ship like an Aurora class, or in their arrogance, thought they could defeat anyone. Looks as if we were off base; these portal chambers are scattered all over the city, we've found 14 so far. They all have the access pods like the one you entered."

"Why...did they h-hide them?"

"We can only assume that they didn't want their enemies to know about them until the last minute. They could slip into the access chambers and transport to the bays. Several large escape pods, each big enough for ten people, are stored in every bay."

"How did it work?" Sheppard asked.

"Well, since everyone had the gene, they would step in, the device sensed their presence and activated the pod. The pods traveled through conduits that run between decks, and would deposit the traveler into the nearest escape bay. It looks like the tube pivots into a perpendicular position during transport and then turns upright when they get to the bays, depositing the traveler at the entrance to an escape pod. The traveler exits and the crystal transport pod returns to pick up another passenger."

"Yeah, I remember, um, the pod tilting over, but the pod didn't deposit me, Rodney; it threw me, why?"

"The escape pod bay you entered was damaged in the flooding. Apparently, there was sufficient water to float the escape pod off the launch railing it sat on. We can only speculate that the sensors didn't slow you down because they didn't read an escape pod there. The transport pod toppled, shattered, and you went sliding across the floor until you hit a track, and a piece of metal fell on you."

Sheppard didn't say anything, but a subtle nod of his head told Teyla and Ronon, he wanted them to leave. Rodney noticed the movement as well, and sighed anxiously. When they were alone Sheppard spoke, his voice low and measured, "Teyla tells me you are quite upset about this."

Rodney didn't say anything; he just stood next to the bed, his head turned from looking at Sheppard directly.

"Look, Rodney; you made a mistake, you jumped too soon in making a conclusion."

"Yes, Sheppard, I did, and I nearly got you killed." Rodney still wouldn't look at him.

Sheppard chewed on his bottom lip; he wasn't good at this, "I volunteered."

"No, you volunteered because I was arrogant enough to think I was right, why wait when I had all the answers."

"You never said you had all the answers."

"No, but I should have been more careful." He finally looked at Sheppard, fear in his eyes, "I've lost your trust before, but I don't know if you can trust me anymore."

Sheppard's lips thinned into a narrow smile, "Trust; I trust you Rodney, but you have to be more careful. Jumping to conclusions always get us into trouble."

"I was careless; I rushed to a conclusion and convinced you to get into that tube. You did that because you trusted me, and I nearly killed you, John. "

"Well, you didn't. Just promise me that you will take a moment to think before you let your enthusiasm take over. It's obvious there is a lot about Atlantis that we still don't know; but we have the time to learn."

Rodney looked considerably relieved, "So, you aren't really angry at me?"

"No; unless you finally succeed in killing me, then I'm really gonna be pissed."

"Yeah, well, I won't get off easy then; Ronon will kill me if that happens."

Sheppard laughed softly but wickedly, "Yeah, McKay; I'm counting on that."

Rodney paled once more and dropped his head. He never noticed the smiles exchanged between Sheppard, and Ronon and Teyla, who were standing in the doorway. Sheppard sank back into the pillow, thinking, "Yeah, Rodney's going to be very humble for a while." He knew it wouldn't last.

_The end…_

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><p><em>Hope you had fun...the SGA_Saturday community has given some great prompts so far...<em>

_Would love to hear from you!_


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